


Invisible Burns

by shortbreadholmes



Series: Summer Writing Project 2013 [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Wingfic, ish, practice writing, spoilers for season 8 finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-21
Updated: 2013-05-21
Packaged: 2017-12-12 12:13:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/811479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shortbreadholmes/pseuds/shortbreadholmes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean finds Cas after he falls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Invisible Burns

When Castiel realizes what's happening, he can hardly move. He watches the sky with shallow breaths as his brothers and sisters crash towards the earth, their voices no longer clear in his mind. Castiel watches, and is filled with a sadness so great it buckles his knees. They say that when an angel spends too much time with humans, they begin to feel emotions, and so Castiel thought that he had experienced emotion to it's full extent, but now he realized that his emotions had been dulled as an angel. Everything was so sharp now, the stabbing pain of loss in his chest, the fear tingling in his limbs, the regret and guilt burning in his stomach. It was more painful than any torture Naomi had subjected him to. Castiel presses his forehead into the ground, blocking out the light of his fallen family, and sobs into the grass. 

When Dean finds him, hours later, he is in the same position, though his sobs have been reduced to a weak moaning. 

"Castiel?" Dean asks, his gruff voice soft and unsure. Cas' moan turns into a wail, inhuman and agony struck and Dean knows, if Castiel had been wiped he wouldn't be in this much pain. Dean approaches the angel...man carefully, a hand reaching out to rest on Castiel's spine. "Cas man, I'm so sorry." Castiel quiets some more but stays curled on the ground for a long time, breathing against Dean's hand. Dean watches him with apprehension and relief, as worried as he is for Cas, Dean doesn't think he could have handled it if Castiel had lost his memory again. Not when he's sure they're so close to the finish line.

After what seems like hours, Castiel slowly sits up and looks at Dean, whose eyes are tight with concern. Castiel lets out a small sigh, his eyes growing. Seeing Dean's face causes a whole new kind of emotion to erupt in Castiel's chest. It's something that he has felt before, as an angel, but the feelings were to foreign and confusing to sort out. Now something in Castiel was able to put a name to it, to _want_ and _love_ and _lust_. Dean watches back, and for the first time Castiel wonders if his feelings are reciprocated. The air between them is charged, made even sharper by the sorrow of the last 24 hours. Castiel needs comfort and he can feel that Dean needs it to. 

"Cas..." Dean says softly, brushing his fingertips on the back of Castiel's hand. Cas' eyes flutter shut and he leans forward on instinct, resting his forehead against Dean's.

"Dean, I-" Cas breaks off, a horrible thought forming in his head. Pain lances through his chest and he chokes back a sob. "I can't feel my wings!" This admission sends Castiel back into hysterics, his whimpers quickly rising into agonized sobs. He moans horribly, wrapping his arms around himself to try and regain what he'd lost. Dean stares helplessly, his heart twisting painfully to see Cas in so much distress. Dean knows he has to do something, he has to fix this. 

"Cas-" Dean starts, reaching a hand out to Castiel and then flinching back when the former angel lets out a particularly piercing wail. Cas scrambles backwards from Dean, tearing his jacket and shirt off with frantic hands. Castiel is trying to twist around to see his spine, his fingers clawing at his back. Castiel can feel where they _used_ to be, where they once stretched and flexed like any other limb, now all that's left is sensitive skin and a deep aching pain like nothing Cas had a name for. Cas clutched his hair and screamed, sending Dean into a panic. "CAS!"

"They're gone Dean!" Cas shouts, his voice breaking. "I can't feel them. They've burnt up, just like the other angels! I am ruined Dean, I am burnt, I am useless!" Castiel can't continue, his voice giving way to more shaking sobs. Dean moves suddenly, dropping the trenchcoat he had saved from being trampled. 

"Cas, dammit listen to me!" Dean snaps, grabbing Cas shoulders and gripping them tight. "Cas we're gonna be fine, we can figure this out. I promise." His voice breaks at the end, just slightly, but enough for Cas to hear. In a flurry of movement Castiel rushes forwards, pushing Dean backwards and pinning him to the ground. 

"Why do you care so much Dean? Why does it matter so much to you?" Their faces are inches apart, and Castiel can see every freckle on Dean's face, every scar and scratch and line. Castiel thinks that he has never seen anyone so beautiful. Dean struggles for a moment, the wind knocked out of him and then reaches up gently to touch Castiel's cheek. 

"Cas, it's you... I care because it matters to you." He says, his voice sweeter than Castiel has ever heard it. They stare at each other for a moment, breathing in each others air, and then Dean moves, rolling them over and wrapping his hands around Castiel's face. He struggles for a moment, with finding his words and with the final shedding of John's influence, before he speaks, voice raw with emotion. "I will help you through this. We will get to the other side of this hell-storm. I don't care if you don't have your powers Castiel, I love you, angel or human, always." And then they're kissing. 

Castiel has kissed several people, most of them he'd enjoyed, but nothing could have prepared him for kissing Dean as a human. Castiel's senses overrode and he struggled to keep coherent thought. Dean's fingers are tangling in Castiel's hair, his eyes shut tight and his mouth angled forward. He could almost be praying, but Castiel knows Dean's prayers too well for that. Cas wraps his arms around Deans body, one hand landing on the faded print on his shoulder, the other pulling Dean closer by the waist. It's pure emotion and sensation, and Castiel can't make heads or tail of what he's feeling. After a moment, Dean pulls back, his breath rough and loud in the quiet forest. He smiles widely and brushes a finger across Castiel's lips.

"God I've wanted to do that for ages," He presses back in and kisses Castiel nose, and brushes his lips across his eyelids. Then he frowns slightly, searching Cas' face. "I'm so sorry for what's happened. Metatron _will_ pay for this, I swear Cas- "

"I know Dean." Cas says softly, a small smile passing his face. Dean grins and pulls Cas close again, his hands brushing softly against Castiel's shoulder blades, soothing the invisible burns and calming Cas' breath. Dean smiles against his lips, holding Castiel tighter every second, his whole body oozing protective love. As Dean's lips move to Castiel's neck, Cas smiles sadly, amused once again at humanities ability to find hope and love in the darkest of days. 

"Thank you, Dean"

**Author's Note:**

> I'm putting this as part of a series because I am planning on writing at least two one-shot/ drabbly kind of things a week, and they will likely all be supernatural so may as well put them together. Commence here the Summer Writing Project 2013. 
> 
> This is a project to improve my writing, specifically storytelling, without having to create new characters and as such, any comments are GREATLY appreciated.
> 
> Thanks.


End file.
